Woodford and discounts behind record IT fundraising - but can it continue?

The AIC's Nick Britton analyses the reasons behind the record amounts raised by ITs so far this year

The net amount of money raised by investment companies (excluding VCTs) was some £3.9bn until 3 September, a figure higher than the total raised in any whole calendar year in history. This is the result of £5.4bn entering the sector through initial public offerings (IPOs) and share issues, and £1.5bn leaving through liquidations, redemptions and similar. The numbers are small compared to the money going into the open-ended sector, which in July alone saw £3bn of net inflows from retail investors. But there are two interesting stories about the demand for investment companies and ho...